Haiku Steps

Pointing up, "if you want to be a renegade and climb 3922 steps, you can hike up the mountain" John said on the ride from the airport to his parents house in Oahu, Hawaii. "It happens to be illegal though and the steps have been closed down for years." Hmmmm, the challenge to climb the steps was set but how could it become a reality?

Later that evening I asked "what's the worse thing that could happen?"

"We have to come back to Hawaii to face trespassing charges" John replied.

"Oh". Trespassing. That's serious

stuff. Visions of jail and begging for mercy in front a judge shut me up for the time being.

Over the next couple days I would bring it up with some half finagled idea; none of them very good. On our Sunday morning run we saw 4 guys walking down the hill and John overheard one of the guys talking about the "Stairway to Heaven." There are many names for the Haiku Steps, including Haiku Stairs, Haiku Ladder and Stairway to Heaven. The next day a guy was coming out of the area fenced off that said NO TREPASSING. After a brief discu

ssion learning that the cops stopped issuing tickets 4 months ago, wear gloves and go through the bamboo and start before

8am we knew what we were going to do the next morning.

We started out from John's parents house at 6:40am.

We figured once we snuck through the fence, through the NO TRESPASSING signs that

finding the steps would be easy. What did the

guy say about

through the bamboo??? We walked along a road, past the old Coast Guard building and wandered some more before finally finding the steps 25 minutes later.

3922 steps and 55 minutes later we were at the top. Although the early morning skies threatened rain, it was clear and dry at the top. Along the way we came across 16 other hikers. When you come across another hiker on the stair there is not enough room to let the other person go by. Someone has to climb outside of the safety of the handrails to let the person pass.

The view was fantastic and you could see everything. It was very windy and chilly being at the top but the weather and the skies were perfect.

The way down, although it was much faster and took us only 41 minutes, was

challenging. There were spots that were so steep I backed down like on a ladder. I was very thankful for the gloves and was able to slide my hands down on the railing.

On the walk back we learned what the guy meant about the bamboo and we turned on a trail that brought us through a bamboo forest. It was so neat walking on the path through all the tall bamboo.

Our overall trip took us about 3 hours (complete with the scenic route to find the stairs) and now John is referring to me as an illegal scoundrel. However, if it wasn't for him being an instigator and wanting to trespass in the first place, I wouldn't have done anything illegal (ummm, hold on a second while I straighten out my tipped halo). I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to climb the Haiku Steps even if it was trespassing.